Bringing a stripped-down model of her SOS Tour to the grounds outdoors Dodger Stadium on Sunday night time, SZA closed out Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival — the two-day music competition curated by Tyler, the Creator — with a classy and soulful flourish.
The efficiency was a victory lap of kinds for the singer-songwriter born Solána Imani Rowel, her first since her 9 Grammy award nominations — a file this 12 months — had been introduced on Friday.
Pulling from her crucial and industrial 2022 smash album SOS, her 2017 debut CTRL and numerous different sources (her 2018 Black Panther soundtrack duet with Kendrick Lamar, “All of the Stars,” plus covers of Dojo Cat’s “Kiss Me Extra” and Drake’s “Wealthy Child Daddy”), SZA writhed in giddy delight, her voice as sturdy as ever. She even mounted a silver ball suspended within the air for her rendition of “The Weekend.”
Peering out from the headlining Camp Stage on the sold-out crowd of 40,000, peacefully gathered within the title of excellent tunes and good vibes, the 34-year-old artist acknowledged the occasion was a lot bigger than she had imagined in her thoughts. Its chief creator, Tyler, the Creator, stood equally in awe simply 24 hours earlier than, when he adopted his set opener of “Lemonhead” with a heartfelt acknowledgment of gratitude to the followers who’d returned to the occasion.
“COVID fucked us. Didn’t go away a towel, didn’t name to see if we made it dwelling protected, simply fucked us. However three years, later, y’all nonetheless care to come back, and this really means the world to me,” the 32-year-old rapper-producer mentioned earlier than launching again right into a raucous efficiency which concerned flame throwers and a junkyard set of stacked auto wrecks.
Saturday’s festivities included appearances by breakout Ice Spice on the Flog Stage — a spirited set hampered by sound points — and Kevin Summary, who wore a T-shirt that mentioned “I Love Somebody Who’s HIV Optimistic.” Colombian-American artist Kali Uchis delivered a Las Vegas-worthy present that includes an elaborate, two-level set bathed in rose hues and an look by her “Definitely worth the Wait” collaborator Omar Apollo.
However the large draw that night time was the debut efficiency of The Hillbillies, consisting of Kendrick Lamar and cousin Child Keem, which included lots of Lamar’s solo hits (“Humble,” “M.A.A.D Metropolis”). And a deliriously completely happy Tyler, the Creator joined them onstage for an impromptu hoedown. A Hillbillies merch sales space on the carnival grounds supplied $180 hoodies and a $400 soccer jersey — being a hillbilly ain’t what it was.
Elsewhere on the grounds, Flog Gnaw revelers rode basic carnival rides just like the Yo-Yo and Himalaya and shopped on the Golf Wang retailer — Tyler’s clothes line, aka the phrases Flog Gnaw backwards — for particular competition merch, most of which was bought out by Sunday night time.
